


A Simple Blessing

by fanonisbetterthancanon



Category: There Will Be Blood
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2014-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-03 00:34:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2831660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanonisbetterthancanon/pseuds/fanonisbetterthancanon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five Times Eli Sunday Does Not Pray (and one time he does)</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Simple Blessing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ghosthorse_tracks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghosthorse_tracks/gifts).



> Happy Yuletide!

 

_A Simple Blessing_

Eli bites his tongue so deep it draws blood.

“A proud daughter of these hills.”  
  
He bites it so hard he sees red. He bites his tongue and listens to this godless prospector bless his hills -- his home -- with an empty prayer. Eli does not bow his head. God is not shining on these hills today, and He surely is not shining on that drill either.   
  
Eli Sunday holds his tongue and for once in his life he does not pray.

 

_No, he_ _isn't_  
The drill burns the whole night through and into the next day and the day beyond that. Once the dynamite arrives, the whole town gathers to watch as Plainview’s crew blows the drill apart. Dark black soot falls over all of Little Boston blemishing the land and filling the air with a heavy, acrid fog.

By then news has reached his congregation that the boy has been injured. Plainview’s boy. HW.

“You must come, the little boy’s been injured. They’re sayin’ he won’t talk. Can’t hear nothin’. He needs the Lord’s Grace. The Lord will heal him,” Sister Edith visits Eli early on the second day of the fire.

Sister Edith is a devout believer. Eli cured her of gout last fall and she has been a steadfast member of the Church of the Third Revelation ever since. Sometimes her gout comes back, but she knows this is a test of God’s faith. Only once she has truly reached Salvation, will He will no longer need to test her faith.  
  
“He certainly does need the Lord’s Grace,” Eli agrees, “But the Devil’s oil is coursing through his father’s veins. As long as the Devil has a grip on his father, the boy hasn’t a chance of being healed. This is why we must raise our families in the church. Never let our brothers and sisters stray. One bad sheep can corrupt the entire flock.”  
  
“But surely that means we must pray for them? For HW. For his father.”

“Yes, of course, Sister Edith. We will pray for young HW’s salvation. Please call on Sister Constance, Brother Jeffrey, and the Hunter family. Tell them to gather at the church, we will pray for HW’s ears and soul.”  
  
Eli Sunday prays for the boy. He prays for him during every sermon for the next month. He instructs his congregation to keep the young Plainview in their hearts and prayers every time they hear a beautiful song; a cherished word.

But Eli’s prayers are empty. Devoid of meaning. Bereft of the Holy Spirit. Eli’s words for HW are salt in his mouth. He can’t bring himself to pray an honest prayer for the boy, because, somehow Daniel Plainview’s prayers are always answered. God always shines a light down on Plainview and his kin. Why should Plainview have everything, while Eli, has nothing? What has God ever given him besides an idiot father, a traitorous brother, and a perverse craving that won’t be satisfied?

 

_From a stupid father to a stupid son_

His mother draws him a bath. Caked in mud and sludge, he sits in the tepid water and does not ask forgiveness.

He committed a grievous sin today. He broke a commandment. If Eli were one of his parishioners he would instruct them to make serious amends. He would tell them that, “the Devil has taken a hold of you, and you must repent and pray for both your Earthly father and Our Heavenly Father to forgive you.”

But rather than pray for God to forgive his sins, Eli traces the bruises on his body. He presses into the hurts on his arms, his neck, his face. Remembers what Plainview’s touch had felt like. The terror and joy he felt when Daniel had dragged him down and climbed atop him.

Eli laid in that mud, shrieking and panting and agonizing for touch and pain.

“I’m gonna bury you underground,” Daniel said.

Eli wants to be buried. He wants to be beaten and ripped apart and taken under.

 

_I’m going on a Mission_

He leaves home excited to do the Lord’s work. Eli knows he has a calling. God has chosen him to bring Salvation to his fellow man. Eli must follow the path the Lord has set out for him, wherever it may take him. There is nothing left for him in Little Boston.

In Oildale he works as a pastor’s assistant. He studies under Brother Peter and learns new ways to cast devils out of the sick and downtrodden. Brother Peter’s son, Charlie, touches Eli’s hands and his lips and his back. He touches Eli and Eli touches back.

After a guest sermon in Taft, he meets Robert, who leaves Eli’s bed smelling of oil and sweat.

In Bakersville, Eli preaches on the radio for the first time. He preaches for the Blood of Christ in the mornings and lays with the men of oil in the evenings. Eli prays every day. He prays for the health of his family and for the prosperity of his congregation in Little Boston. He prays that the radio will lead sinners to Salvation.

Eli’s sin lies in what he omits from his prayers.

 

_Things go up Things go down But at least the Lord is always around_

“Once the Devil takes hold of you, he will never let go,” Eli calls out to his radio listeners. “The Lord tests us every day, and if we fail Him, the Devil will grab hold of our souls and we are lost. This is why we must accept the Blood of the Lord. Only His Salvation will redeem us.”

Eli never prays anymore. Certainly, he leads his followers in prayer and spiritual guidance everyday. He is one of the most successful preachers in California. But his intentions are hollow. He is numb to the Lord. He has spent too many years listening to good stupid people put all of their faith into a God who does nothing.

Eli would pray, if he thought God was listening to him. If he thought God cared. He would beg forgiveness for all of his crimes: the greed, the jealousy, the pride, the perversion. He would ask to be saved if he still thought God was in the business of saving.

 

W _e’re family Daniel. We’re brothers! We’re brothers! Please, Daniel, forgive me. I beg you. I beg you._

All this time, Eli, was praying to the wrong God. Eli’s prayers were never answered, because his God was powerless. Daniel Plainview has all of the power. Daniel Plainview always held Eli’s fate in his hands.

Eli begs forgiveness, but Plainview is a vengeful God.

 

 


End file.
